Cafe Society

To say that the great filmmaker, Woody Allen, is past his prime is stating the obvious. But, every few years, he still manages to bring out a masterpiece — despite now being 80. Cafe Society won't go down in that category, but it's still a very pleasant diversion at the cinema with its glamorous 1930s Hollywood setting and excellent cast.

This is Jesse Eisenberg's second outing with Allen (he was also in To Rome With Love), and here he plays Jewish New Yorker, Bobby Dorfman, who dreams of a better life than his parents have got. He also doesn't want to end up like his brother (Corey Stoll), who makes a habit of burying his enemies in cement.

Luckily Bobby's uncle, Phil - played by Steve Carell - is a big Hollywood agent and Bobby gets a job with him and immediately becomes enamoured with Phil's young secretary — Kristen Stewart shining as Vonnie. From there, Cafe Society explores Allen's well-worn themes of love, unrequited love, the fickleness of love, the betrayals of love... you get the picture.

As usual, Allen has made an exquisite looking film with cinematography by Vittorio Storaro and production design taken by regular Allen cinematographer, Santo Loquasto. The one thing that grates a little is the completely unnecessary narration by an elderly sounding Allen who basically states the obvious about what we're seeing. Even though it's a favourite device of his that's served well in the past, in this case, it doesn't really work.

As a nice little piece of trivia, check out the small role of Steve Carell's wife, Karen. She's played by former Twin Peaks 'wrapped in plastic' Laura Palmer portrayer, Sheryl Lee.